Isagi had wondered about it before: why didn't he possess any powerful attack magic?
Utilizing "Total Mastery," he could indeed read "Combat Arts" similar to "Magic" from staves, but the problem lay in the fact that staves in this world were not only expensive but also custom-made!
In the item shops run by witches and magic craftsmen, there simply weren't any ready-made staves available for purchase.
This prevented Isagi from trying to see what kind of "Combat Art Magic" he could read from different staves in the past; it simply wasn't feasible.
But looking at it now.
It wasn't that he lacked powerful magic, but rather that the Character Card he chose before was of the Warrior class—
"[Golden Age (LV4)]
· Aspects of the Crucible — This is the primordial life force of the Erdtree; as the level increases, one can manifest different body parts; in the past, lives were blended together, indistinguishable from one another;
· Magic, Faith, and Inheritance — Can learn some Glintstone Sorceries, Carian Sorceries, and Night Sorceries; can learn Erdtree, Beast, and Blood Incantations; can teach others;
· Spirit Ashes — Obtain the Spirit Calling Bell; can obtain ashes harboring souls from within the Dungeon;
· Path to Godhood (Start) —
· Gold is the beginning, but not the end
· Nurture the Erdtree, forming a law that belongs to the self; or destroy it, bringing about a brand new era
· Marry a King
· Path to Lordship (Start) —
· Strength is the very reason to be a King
· Collect at least two Great Runes
· Marry a God..."
What does this mean?
He couldn't understand it at all. Before, whether it was becoming a "Shura" or "Ascending to Immortality," there were clear effects. One increased Attack Power or even allowed transforming into a giant monster after shouldering death, and the other allowed refining pills that permanently increased ability stats.
But this...
Does it mean one can become both a "King" and a "God"?
No, for the same abilities in the previous two chapters' Character Cards, the emphasis was on the third line, so the most important thing is "Marriage"?!
Ah...
He got it!
It means he has to marry a King, and also marry a God!
So that's how it is, he understood!!
As for the remaining old standards of health recovery and resurrection, there was no need to mention them. However, after switching to "Golden Age," the item used for health recovery, the [Flask of Crimson Tears], could have its number of uses allocated to become the [Flask of Cerulean Tears] which restores Mind.
Isagi never expected this.
"Golden Age" was this kind of Character Card. The primary combat power it provided came from the dozens, even hundreds, of varied Sorceries and Incantations brought by "Magic, Faith, and Inheritance."
It was almost all crammed into his mind at once. A seemingly simple ability was actually not simple at all!
There were even Spirit Ashes to act as a Summoner! (Although he hadn't collected a single type of Spirit Ash yet.)
Moreover.
Most Sorceries and Incantations could also be taught to others, depending on whether they could learn them.
He figured it was likely related to hidden "Personal Values," such as [Intelligence] or [Faith] or something—
Under the winter night.
Arriving at the grassy fields outside the city, Isagi looked at Ryuu-senpai who was following slightly behind him.
"[Faith] shouldn't be an issue, but this [Intelligence]..."
"What are you muttering about?!"
Seeming to have heard some sensitive "vocabulary," the Elf girl immediately leaned in close, her delicate and soft small fist clenching tight once again.
Hmph!
Damnable guy, actually daring to look down on his Senior! She was furious!!
[The most important thing is, there's completely no way to refute it!]
Thus.
Ryuu felt even more "angry"!
Of course, if the Goddess were here, she would only roll her eyes slightly and tell the two guys not to flirt around here.
"In short, Ryuu-senpai, let's start learning from the most elementary magic. Come, chant with me..."
...
Inconceivable!
Truly inconceivable!!
Under the deep winter night, Ryuu Lion looked at the blue Glintstone that had just been fired out by her swinging the wooden sword, feeling it was magical to the extreme.
Why is no chant required?
Is it Instant-Cast Magic?
If so, then why could it be "taught" to her? And it seemed quite simple; she had learned and mastered it in just over ten minutes!
Why is it like this?!
Ryuu couldn't help but think of legends from ancient times. The beings who first used magic were the Spirits; that was the power they were born with as envoys of the gods.
Although there was also magic that required chanting.
But for the vast majority of Spirits, simply relying on their "existence" itself allowed them to unleash powerful "Magic Power."
Just like the little mare Yuufi.
The fierce winds that fellow whipped up just by "playing around" could easily tear apart low-level adventurers and monsters.
And in many Hero Tales from even more ancient times, there were stories of Great Spirits of Fire burning dry large lakes due to rage, or Great Spirits of Water causing cities to be submerged by floods due to sorrow.
In these distant legends.
Elves were indeed one of the extremely few races capable of using magic before the gods came to the Lower World.
This was a power that only a magical race with an innate affinity for the [Magic] attribute could use. It was a system finally summarized and formed after countless practices and studies by predecessors.
It was just that.
Such magic was too ordinary. Although there were still numerous Elves using such ancient "Techniques" today.
But even more Elves who had accepted the gods' Falna would use the magic obtained through their Status Board, because that was more unique and possessed powerful strength.
Many old-fashioned elder Elves were quite repulsed by this, and at one time even kept the gods at a respectful distance. For example, the King Alf's Forest, that forest which belonged to the "Holy Land" of the Elf race where the royals lived for generations—even gods could not easily step into it.
Ryuu was in a daze.
Because she also came from a quite old-fashioned Elf settlement. As a fairly outstanding member of the younger generation since childhood, she had also learned those magic spells of the "Ancient" era.
The girl even still remembered those chant verses.
[Respond to the contract.]
[Wind of the universe, follow my command and sweep away the enemy...]
Magic with extremely long syllables; chanting them was like singing, complex and obscure. And in the end, it could only blow a few gusts of strong wind that couldn't even crush a large tree.
Undoubtedly.
For adventurers, the magic obtained through the gods' Falna was more powerful, and as their Level and [Magic] stat increased, its power would further enhance.
Even the Elf race's princess, Lady Riveria, hardly used those "Elven Magic" spells passed down from ancient times anymore.
So.
For adventurers, wanting to acquire new magic could only happen through adventuring, with an extremely low probability or by the occurrence of a significant event sufficient to impact one's life—such as the [Astrea Record] that Ryuu herself learned.
Or, one could only spend exorbitant prices to purchase "Grimoires."
They remained consumable items created by the power of [Mystery]. Through reading, there was a certain probability that an adventurer could learn new magic.
It was just that the price was extremely high, at least tens of millions of Valis or more.
And now, she had only spent just over ten minutes to learn a brand new type of magic?
And it was outside of the Falna, magic that was not brought by the power of the gods?
Ryuu remained silent for a long time.
She had truly thought Isagi was just joking earlier.
Thinking that the young man had obtained some new ability after leveling up, so he dragged her outside the city for "testing" and "training."
But it turned out it really wasn't?!
People treat you as a Junior, yet you want to be the Senior's "Teacher"?!!
"It doesn't matter, Ryuu-senpai. From now on, we'll each use our own titles."
I call you Senpai.
You call me Teacher.
There's no conflict in that at all, right?
"..."
"Come, let's attempt a slightly more complex magic."
"Was that just the introduction?"
"Mmm, it was the basic of basics."
It was [Glintstone Pebble], which only required 10 points of "Intelligence" to learn, the starting point for exploring the journey of magic. It seemed Ryuu-senpai wasn't that incompetent; her Intelligence attribute should be higher than 9 points.
Then next, is a slightly advanced magic.
[Swift Glintstone Shard]...
Under the pitch-black quiet night, far away, beside the small farm paths outside the city, dim yellow Magic Stone lamps were scattered.
The silhouette of the distant massive city walls flickered in and out of view under the night.
Outside the woodland.
Amidst the boundless grass, Magic Stone lanterns similarly emitted dim yellow light, illuminating the young man, the girl, and their surroundings.
From time to time.
Orbs of blue "meteors" flew towards the woodland and quietly vanished, resembling fireflies flashing by.
"Isagi, do you think I..."
"Ryuu-senpai needs to think for herself."
Interrupting the other party's words, the young man knew what she wanted to say.
Ryuu was lost.
She realized that with her current self, she seemed somewhat unable to keep up with the adventures and battles of her juniors. But the problem wasn't that her "Hard Power" was insufficient.
Level 5, possessing powerful magic like the [Astrea Record], as well as the First-Class Armament [Elven Goddess of Justice]—
Even looking at the entirety of Orario, she was currently a ranked powerhouse.
But it wasn't enough; it just wasn't enough.
Ryuu felt there was a problem with her mindset. She attempted to pursue her companions' paths, such as practicing her own Special Technique like Tiona, or controlling magic more exquisitely like Lefiya...
But the so-called being lost meant not knowing what the correct thing to do was.
Because there was no time for trial and error.
What if danger was encountered on the next adventure and she had to step forward?
So she had to be quick; she definitely had to keep up with the juniors' footsteps even faster—
"Everyone is different. Ryuu-senpai also has Senpai's own combat style, don't you?"
So she could only think for herself.
"But generally speaking, mastering new abilities is never a bad thing."
The Character Card [Golden Age] brought him so many Sorceries and Incantations, but among them, were all of them truly useful?
Of course not.
Just like the ten functions of the Shinobi Prosthetic, the many spells of the Westward Journey Character Card, and even more types of Legion Prosthetics... It wasn't that they were useless, but that he wasn't accustomed to using them.
Wanting to totally master all abilities and use them freely was a very difficult thing.
That was why different adventurers had their own different focuses. That was something that no matter how others explained, one wouldn't understand unless they experienced it themselves.
Of course, in Isagi's view, the most important thing was—
"Ryuu-senpai still fights too little."
"Eh?!"
She never expected that one day she would actually be reprimanded by a junior like that!
The problem was, he really wasn't wrong.
Over this year and more of revenge, she hadn't experienced any decent battles...
So embarrassing!
"I've got it!"
Seeming to have thought of something, Isagi nodded to himself. For some reason, this always gave Ryuu another premonition of something bad—
The afternoon of the day before officially heading to the Middle Floors for adventure.
Under the greyish-blue winter clouds.
Isagi arranged a special training session for Ryuu-senpai and Miss Ais!
It was still outside the city, in the woodlands that allowed high-level adventurers to fight without restraint.
For some reason.
Looking at the golden-haired girl staring straight over with a cold expression in the distance, Ryuu once again felt something was wrong somewhere.
"I told Miss Ais that Ryuu-senpai feels she isn't qualified to teach me practice, so you wanted to personally go out and teach her a lesson."
"???"
"Miss Ais seems very angry. Good luck, Senpai."
No.
What on earth did you spout nonsense about?!
Making it seem like she and the other party were fighting over a man, being jealous of each other or something!
An inexplicable blush and heartbeat struck her, but the more it was so, the more Ryuu felt the look Ais cast upon her from the distance becoming increasingly cold.
[Not letting me train with Isagi means not letting me go to the Astrea Familia usually, which means not letting me go adventuring together...]
With great difficulty.
After waiting for such a long time (she hadn't even been able to go to the Dungeon!), Mother Riveria finally agreed to let her head to the Middle Floors with the young man in a few days.
But precisely at this juncture, her strength was being looked down upon. For Ais, this was naturally something unacceptable!
Clearly.
Even for the naturally airheaded girl, after interacting for these past few months, Isagi also clearly knew exactly where the other party's "Sensitive Spot" was, and then how to maximize the provocation.
"So scary, so scary, so scary. This is the first time I've seen Little Ais reveal that kind of expression~"
"The [Gale] of the Goddess of Justice and the [Sword Princess] of the Goddess of Trickery, who will ultimately be the one to carry the boy home—"
Speaking marginal words, the red-haired deity was simultaneously given the side-eye by the other two Goddesses.
Among the farmhouses not far from the woodland.
Astrea, along with Loki and Demeter, sat in the courtyard. While brewing hot tea, they were also preparing dinner.
Just like an ordinary "Family Gathering."
Led by the beautiful matronly Goddess, stew was simmering on the stove, and lamb chops and grilled fish were being turned on the grill.
It counted as a rare vacation.
Loki had also run out from her Familia station, dumping all the headache-inducing matters onto Finn and Riveria to handle, while she brought Ais over here herself.
"My, so intense."
In the distance.
The battle between [Gale] and [Sword Princess] was already on the verge of breaking out. Sometimes, watching cute girls fight also had a unique flavor to it~
Right, right, that side seems not bad either.
Loki looked toward the other side. In the grassy field, the blue-haired girl Cecil and the orange-haired Elf Lefiya were also doing daily training, only the appearance of the two guys wrestling together was truly somewhat amusing.
Wait!
She seemed to have noticed something extraordinary!!
Loki carefully looked at Cecil and Lefiya, and then looked at Tiona who was clamoring and watching the show from the side!
Subsequently, she carefully observed Ais and Ryuu again. Just as she wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, she thought of herself and the Goddess of Justice—
She instantly discovered an unimaginable, massive gap.
Complete defeat!
The "Battle" between the Loki Familia and the Astrea Familia... hasn't this just begun, and it's already a complete defeat?!
____
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